Dearborn Starts New Trash, Recycle Service Monday
Dearborn’s new trash and recycle pickups begin tomorrow so residents should begin using their 96-gallon trash carts. This also marks the first week the city will be using Republic Services rather than Waste Management. Republic was the lowest bidder for Dearborn’s trash pickup contract.
While city offices will be closed on Monday for the holiday weekend, regular trash and recycle pickups will take place. Recycle trash hits the curb every other week. Residents in section “B” should roll their green recycle carts to the curb (there is an A or B section designation at the front of the recycle cart lid.
As for complaints by some that the trash carts are too large, the city of Dearborn says that residents with physical hardships to get their trash to the curb or anyone else having problems with the new 96-gallon carts can call 943-2085. Residents can request a smaller 64-gallon cart by calling that number.
July 4th, 2010 at 9:56 am
I just saw a picture on page 2A of the Press and Guide of 2 children standing in one of the new trash containers. This got me to wondering if there has been any studies on the safety of these cans. If a small child fell into one of these cans head first would they be able to get out? I don’t know if showing photos of children inside these cans was a good idea.
July 4th, 2010 at 10:18 am
I called because I won’t have any place to store the big carts in the winter and was told that they will be giving out smaller carts to people with physical hardships first and that I should call back in 3 months. What I don’t understand is if the pilot program had been going on for 2 yrs in the east end why didn’t the city take care of the hardships months ago and they wouldn’t have had to deliver big carts and than take them back and deliver small carts. Once again it looks like the city didn’t put much thought into this program.
July 4th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Donna, the pilot program was only in an area of 700 houses. Now the entire city is being put into the same program. We are now talking about 33,000 house vs 700. There is no way the city could identify all the hardships citywide based on just the 700 home pilot area. I know it seems like not much thought was put into this, but that is far from the truth.
July 4th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
I am a avid reader of this site and i am tired of all the people complaining around here…. This trash pick up system is not “new” by any means.. There are cities all over that use this type of trash pick up. Everyone around here thinks that this wonderful city of ours is purposely trying to inconvienence us. This is a system that will bring more cost efficiency to the city. Get over the damn size. It is only going to help the city. Quit being a bunch of cry babies!
July 4th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
JBatha-
I agree! What a great opportunity for the young people in our city to help out their neighbors. If your they need help with thier containers HELP THEM! What goes round comes around.
July 4th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Is it really going to save money?, I hope so. I hope all the supporters of the new system ask the council one year from now for a report on the actual saving we achieved. Lets see if we will get a dollars and cents answer then. Also abandoning the household battery disposal program is really going to contaminate the landfills. Imagine how many batteries 36,000 households generate in a year. Waste Management recycled them why not Republic?
July 6th, 2010 at 7:38 am
OMG and JBatha,
Really, you want us to get over the damn size? Well, let’s see, I have a 75 year old mother who weighs about 100 lbs with a history of heart condition. She lives alone and doesn’t have any other option but to use the HUGE cans. You think she can take the cans from the back of the house to the front? So, what does that mean, it means I have to drive every Wednesday from Troy to take out her garbage and come back every Thursday to bring in the can. A little inconvenience? I would think so. I have an aunt who also lives alone in West Dearborn…same scenario. And I can go on and on with countless examples of elderly that live alone. As for neighbors helping out, REALLY? Again, my mom lives alone and NOT once has a neighbor offered to help clean her snow or mow her lawn. I don’t mind paying a landscaping company but years ago, inbetween lawn care services, there was not a neighbor in site that would help mow the lawn a couple of times. I HATE how people are so quick to offer solutions that are truly useless! OMG and JBatha, if you have youngsters around the house or neighborhood that can take your trash out, GOOD for you. Some of us need a little assistance and we have the right to complain about a 96 GALLON can!
July 6th, 2010 at 7:51 am
in the regular trash bin, does everything really have to be bagged? I can’t just toss other things in there, like broken ceiling tiles?
July 6th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
Jo-Jo, I live in the Crowley Park area. If your relatives live in this area, please alert the Mayor’s office. I will contact them and let them know I am available in this area for help.
July 6th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Dear Derborn Observer,
Thank you very much for your offer, that is very kind and very touching. Unfortunately, neither my mom nor aunt live in the Crowley Park area. For the time being, I will take care of taking my mom’s cans out until hopefully she gets smaller ones. If those are too big also, I will see if I can find a neighborhood kid to pay a few bucks to help out. I just got upset with OMG and JBatha that think those who are complaining are cry babies. We are not, we have legit reasons.
July 6th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Jo-Jo – Please call the city and have your Mom sign up for the program that allows the Republic workers to enter her property to roll out her carts for her-they also put them back. You must have something signed by her Doctor but I wouldn’t think that at your Mom’s age she would have a problem. That would eliminate the need for you to drive in from Troy twice a week.
Neighborhoods have changed in the last 25 years and people don’t seem to have the time to help their neighbors. The younger kids don’t mow lawns or shovel snow because they don’t need the money – Mommy or Daddy supplies all that is needed.
July 6th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
In the Ford Home District we still have the neighborhood…and plenty of kids to help out. If she is in our district, let us know and we’ll be sure someone helps out. You would be surprised at how many kids are willing to help out if we just ask. It’s good for everyone and the neighborhoods.
July 7th, 2010 at 2:08 am
You DO know there are wheels on these cans don’t you? How much effort does it take to lean the thing back (using a lever and fulcrum principle) and wheel it to the curb or driveway? If someone is too old or infirm to handle THIS, how did they manage to carry ten or more pounds of garbage in a bag or a regular can to the curb before? It probably takes less than 10 pounds of effort to move a new can filled with 40 pounds of garbage. You DO know you don’t have to lift the cans off of the ground don’t you? If my parents were unable to handle this task, I’d be worried about more than having to drive in from Troy a couple times a week. I’d be worried about them breaking a hip trying to get to the bathroom or walking down snowy steps or burning the house down trying to get a pot of water on or off the stove. Use some common sense already.
July 7th, 2010 at 6:47 am
Is it possible this new trash can business may be a good thing by bringing neighbors together in helping each other. I certainly hope so!
July 7th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Really, I appreciate all the people who are offering to help. Very classy of Dearborn residents! As for Testing Testing…I am going to disregard your sarcasm and say one thing…You DO know that with the previous collection system we had the option of taking out two small bags don’t you? “It only takes COMMON SENSE already!!”
July 7th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Kay and Donna, very nice of you to offer your assitance. I have already called the city and they are coming out to asses what can be done.
July 7th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Testing Testing,
My 83 year old mom only has one Kroger’s grocery bag of trash a week. She could handle getting that to the curb with little effort. Now you want her to move a 96 gallon trash can, almost as tall as her, with one grocery bag inside? Be sensitive and use your own common sense. It will only be worse in the winter for these seniors when the City plows a mound of snow and ice at the curb and they get to try and balance the giant cans on uneven ground.
July 8th, 2010 at 7:12 am
Jo-Jo
If either your mother or aunt has a neighborhood association in their area, you may want to contact them to ask if there is someone would be willing to help them with the cans.
July 8th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Wanting better for Dearborn … my neighbor is an older gentleman who produces just one small bag each week also … I told him to throw his bag into my trash can.
Everyone: There are issues … there will always be issues because not every option is a perfect option for everyone … if we look for solutions, I’m sure they can be found. But if we throw up our hands and say it’s all impossible, then it certainly is impossible.
Many neighborhoods throughout Michigan … neighorhoods with snow, ice, curbs, elderly residents, and all the other things that have been mentioned … use trash cans just like the ones Dearborn is now using. Somehow they have found a way to make it work … is Dearborn really so hopelessly different that we can’t find solutions to these concerns?
July 9th, 2010 at 10:57 am
My husband and I are able-bodied, but still face some issues. We have a narrow driveway, and single-car garage. We can squeeze a car in the garage, but not with the two carts in there. This isn’t an issue (we usually park one or both cars in the street) until trash day when we have to park both cars in the garage. Because of the width and configuration of our driveway, gardens, and a large boulder next to the drive that was in place when we moved here, we cannot roll the carts by the cars when they are both in the drive. I am 5 feet tall and cannot lift and carry a cart past the cars. We have no idea how this will work in the winter when there is snow on the lawn where we have to roll them, or piled up on the easement where we’d somehow have to lift them.
I never used to see the trash cans of my neighbors except on trash day. Now most people cannot fit them in the garage, and half of them are visible on the property. It looks like crap.
Also, although I’m in section “B” they did not pick up my recycling on trash day.
July 9th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
I must admit our first week with the new cans was OK. In fact, I thought the neighborhood looked rather nice with the uniform look of everyone having just the one big can out front. I also noticed a dramatic decrease in those annoying trucks driven by junk dealers that root through your trash. I also didn’t see any birds picking at pizza boxes etc… So even though I wasn’t extremely thrilled with the program and I HATE not being able to park in the street, I thought the neighborhood as a whole did look nicer with the more uniform look.
I do wonder though if elderly people just have one little Kroger bag of trash why they just can’t get permission from the city to just throw their bag of trash out with no can. I can’t see what that would hurt. Rather than to get a special can or bother people to come wheel a can in or out etc..
I also don’t see what it would hurt to just throw a bag or two of trash out if you are leaving for vacation on trash day rather than to bother a neighbor to wheel your trash can in and then worry about being ticketed if they forget.
July 9th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
My first pickup was less than smooth. Republic left my can 9 feet away from the grass easement where I put it and damages the grass and soil a little. The can was laying on its side in the middle of the driveway. Of course when I got home I could not get into the driveway and couldn’t park on the street to go out and lift it up and move it because the city made that illegal. The traffic on my street is outrageous due to major street construction one block over. I could not stop to try and move the can. Around the block to the alley, park the car, walk to the street, remove the can and then drive back around. I know, quit griping pay my taxes and shut up. I have no right to expect anything for what it costs me to live here.
July 9th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
Today was our trash pickup – 1 truck picked up recycleables, 1 trash, 1 yard waste and then the 4th truck picked up the ‘odd ball stuff’ like additional black bags that did not fit into the cart so if I only had one small bag I guess I would just set it out and see what happens.
July 9th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Today was our trash pickup – 1 truck picked up recycleables, 1 trash, 1 yard waste and then the 4th truck picked up the ‘odd ball stuff’ like additional black bags that did not fit into the cart so if I only had one small bag I guess I would just set it out and see what happens.
I also agree that today the neighborhood did look much better and after the trash was picked up there wern’t cans and lids blowing all over the street.
July 9th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
Okay, I have to admit when those carts were delivered, I dreaded seeing the horrid looking things on trash day out of my front windows. (Not native, but I’m old enough to remember when trash was picked up from your alley.) However, I have to admit that our neighborhood did look nicer today. One neighbor’s lid was partially open because of the trash in the cart. and both neighbors on each side of me put their carts in the street. However the truck deposited those carts where they belong. Also, I was grateful that nobody was parked on th street today. And that is a first!
July 10th, 2010 at 7:33 am
I agree with Julie, there is a space issue. Dearborn has many houses on small lots with a single garage or no garage. There is not enough room to store these new super-sized garbage bins. The only place my neighbors can store
their bins is between their house and my driveway, which adds an extra obstacle for me to avoid when I back my car down my already tight driveway.
Also, who creates enough garbage to fill these things every week? The size is
overkill and the whole idea is a waste of money, and an example of fixing
something that wasn’t broken.
July 10th, 2010 at 9:35 am
Happy Here:
Well said! There always are solutions to most all issues if people will simply take the time to look for them.
Wondering:
There are small trash cans the city will supply people who need or desire one. There is no charge for this and the city will pick up the larger cans at no cost as well. Simply have them call the city.
July 10th, 2010 at 10:26 pm
As I ride my bike around Dearborn I see trash cans everywhere. People do not have a place to put them. Storage and the size have been the issues since this started although the Mayor, in his usual rude style, does not address that but talks down to anyone who dare raises a concern. My husband is 6’1″ and he said that he had a hard time getting the can from behing the garage and through our garden. He has been concerned about the winter since these things were delivered and now that we have used them, he is even more concerned. It is really too bad, this could be a decent initiative but it was not given thorough thought. Instead of the Mayor actually LISTENING to the citizens of this city, he continues to ask people to gift them a chance while not actually HEARING their concerns. He totally misses the concern and therefore, the problem. If he had listened, maybe they could have disperesed different containers before we were all forced to use them. It’s a shame. He needs to calm down and realize what good people he has that put up with him and his rude attitude. Riding through these neighborhoods, it’s just amazing how people take such good care of these old homes and how good our neighborhoods look. Again, it’s too bad he can’t be a little more respectful and realize that the people of Dearborn are not afraid of change nor are they “whiney babies” as some on this blog have suggested. Could it be that the proud citizens of Dearborn still have some semblence of common sense? I think so. It’s dirty shame what we have to deal with in our elected officials. And something as simple as garbage pick up brought out the worst in our Mayor. I am disgusted.
July 11th, 2010 at 6:14 am
Michael – I called the city for a smaller cart because of storage space in my garage. I was told to call back in 3 months after the city had reviewed all the disability/hardship cases and they would send someone out to see what my problem with storage was. I hope so because in the winter I do not have the space to store the big carts and they would have to be left in front of my garage which is quite visible to street traffic.
July 11th, 2010 at 8:21 am
Donna,
Sounds like the city is having more issues with this new trash can program than they bargained for. I lived in places all over California that had this program and it worked out far better than our old Dearborn program, but these California cities did not have our strict codes that mandate our cans when stored cannot be visible from the street. Hopefully they can resolve your issue, but with the possibility of getting a citation while you’re waiting for resolution those 3 months sounds ridiculously long to have to wait. If I was you, I wouldn’t be happy either.
Kay,
Unless a person is so far out of line verbally attacking someone, in my opinion there is no excuse for a person who serves the people in such a high capacity to treat someone the way you state you have seen the mayor treat so many.
I’ve been witness to a few situations where this happened as well and it really surprised me to see the mayor who is usually so friendly and kind to most everyone, lose his “cool” like that.
July 11th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
I have never seen so many people complain about such little things as they do in Dearborn. What do you people do when really important issues come up in your life?
The last time I saw this much flack was when a woman wanted to keep a few chickens.
Did you ever notice that no one posts to any positive issues on this blog. People get a life. Help your neighbors. Do volunteer work. Make the world a better place than it, obviously, is in your complaining minds.
July 11th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
FYI – the woman didn’t get the chickens back.
July 11th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
Question….has anyone here actually previously received a citation for visible cans before? I grew up here and am on my husband all the time for leaving our cans right next to our garage where I can see them when I pull in the driveway (his hometown had no such rules), but no one I know has ever actually gotten a citation for that. Given the new cans and the difficulty most people are having storing them, I can’t imagine they’ll be giving out citations for them when there is so much turmoil.
That said, I really don’t have an issue with them. They look nice and uniform. The mayor does need to work on his tone though, and he needs to realize that though the “footprint” of these cans is the same, they widen as they get higher and therefore DO require more space to store because they take up more space at the top and can’t be placed as closely together. Maybe he hasn’t looked at his yet? 🙂
July 11th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Cloe-we have plenty of postitive comments. The fact that we care enough to post a comment and read blogs to see what is going on in the city is positive. Look around Dearborn. When you drive through a nicely kept neighborhood, perhaps it is because we do stay on top of things and that we do not blindly follow our leaders. We are involved and yes, sometimes that means we voice our opinions and concerns. Unfortunately, some people take it as whining and complaining. I take it as people being involved and interested. We in Dearborn are fighting the trend for older neighborhoods to start looking rundown. Dearborn strict rules have always been known and helps to keep our older neighborhoods looking nice. What I am trying to say is this..we are not complaining.
July 12th, 2010 at 6:56 am
Can somebody tell me how many garbage collectors have lost their job due to this new automated collection system? If it only takes one worker to operate the system, I would guess two workers per truck have lost good jobs due to the city’s decision.
July 12th, 2010 at 10:54 am
Kay, I, too, live in Dearborn and, yes, there are many things that can be improved on.
People drive like maniacs, running red light and stop signs. Many of the commercial properties look horrible. The economy of this city reflects the economy of the country. I live near a school and have had to call the police every garbage day for months to ticket the teachers before they got the idea that I would like to have my street cleaned once in a while. Now, they don’t park there.
I just think that positive ideas for solutions to the problems are a better idea way to go.
July 12th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
i have to store the newer cans behind my garage because they wont fit in it…i added another row of pavers to the existing two rows so the cans would fit nicely…i have to pull them through a garden that has a soil path to get them around to the driveway…i am in the process of laying a fieldstone path to avoid rutting…see, here’s the thing…a few hundred years ago, after the civil war, we common folk were allowed to purchase land and dwell…though times and costs have changed, the principals have experienced some oversight…the most impoortant reasons for purchasing land/property/a home, were simple…it enabled one to be more self sufficient, and allowed one to increase the value of their belonging…yes, economic climates are sagging…but i encourage my neighbors to be creative…start communicating with eachother…get better ideas for creating livable spaces…take care of yourselves and one another if nobody is going to drive down your street and do it for you (cuz chances are they wont)…community leadership starts at home, on your block, in your neighborhood…not at the mayors office…give him less to deal with if you don’t like the way he deals with a full plate…remember when every block had a commitee…?…there are still signs at the end of blocks in other cities that say “welcome to the #### block of ____”…maybe it wouldn’t hurt to take our neighborhoods back…(legally of course)…there is a lot of energy in this city…a lot of good energy…from east to west and north to south…so i call on you to do this…take care of your home, however you see fit, but take care of it…take care of your neighbors, however much they allow you to…take care of your community, however you are able to…
July 12th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
spag80 – I think yours is the most beautiful and sensible post I have read. Thanks for that.
July 12th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Waste Mgmt. got new contracts so last I heard they may be hiring drivers soon.
I have no place to put these ginormous cans or wide enough space to get them front to back, so they are in the front yard on the side of my house. Before I am cited -they better help create a solution for this problem.
The new trucks that came down my block -3 that we noticed- all of the drivers were on their phones 2 blew through the stop sign and on sort of pumped the break and went through. Not everyone had cans out on my street some had one or two of the 3 but some people had none. Some of the drivers didnt have to stop for several houses so they picked up speed before blowing through the intersection. My street has parking only on one side and some folks have no driveways parking on the street happens EVERY week on the sacred public service days. Same people and most of them reside on the opposite no parking side so it is the other residents whose trash may not be picked up or never gets street cleaned and in the winter their drives get plowed in or the space in front of your house does not get plowed. No tickets or nasty letters and I have seen the grey parking pickup drive right on by them on public service day the last 2 weeks
Also, if your neighbors don’t bag the trash it hangs on the sides and falls to the ground and then the birds hang out for the tasty morsels. Unlike, the other trash guys the Republic guys never get out of the truck so they don’t pick up any spills. My former trash guys did.
Also, Big Brother conspiracy theorists your new trash cans haqve a microchip so they can track when used and where they are if you need to find them.
July 13th, 2010 at 2:03 am
catcher5,
Decades ago the City of Dearborn eliminated ALL in-house garbage employees and farmed out the garbage pick-up to outside contractors. What the city did recently was replace one outside contractor with another outside contractor to collect our garbage. Therefore, since the city hasn’t had in-house employee garbage collectors for decades, no city employee garbage collectors lost their jobs.
July 13th, 2010 at 5:45 am
After not picking up my recycling last week as scheduled, Republic skipped me when they picked up the trash yesterday. Since it sat out all day yesterday, my one bag in the big bin got stinky, so I don’t really want to hold it a week. The city is sending a truck to pick it up today. If this happened to me twice in a row, I have to believe I’m not the only one.
So. Donna notes four trucks go by. Extra picks up for missed carts. Someone who will come out an inspect your property to see if you deserve a smaller cart. Someone who can, if you are disabled, come on to your property, get your trash, bring it to the curb, and return the cart. How does all this save money in personnel?
July 13th, 2010 at 9:50 am
patriot.girl, lets get a coffee and solve these problems rationally…let’s boost moral in this town…no more looking back and pointing fingers…let’s join hands and use our minds…
July 13th, 2010 at 10:45 am
spag80, sure wish it was that easy to solve these problems!
July 13th, 2010 at 11:49 am
i can’t hear you donna : )